I
want to preface this review of Yoda and his Kybuck by saying I
haven't seen the Clone Wars Episodes he's from. I'm not even
a huge EU fan. However, a kick butt Yoda with a new
creature, EU or not, I couldn't pass up.
The short version of the story is Yoda and
helped a sick Wookie Princess and received the neutered (yip!)
kybuck as a gift of thanks. He then rode the kybuck on
occasion into battle, notably in Grievous's attack on Coruscant
just prior to the events that open ROTS (i.e. Episode 3).
Yoda:
Yoda in pants and a robe ready to go into battle. That's
what you're looking at here. He's got a bandolier across his
chest and the traditional brown Jedi robe. He
kind of reminds me of vintage Yoda with a robe and belt.

I have to say I find the pants a bit disturbing, only because
I'm not use to seeing Yoda in them. But, if you're going to
be a cowboy, then I guess they make sense. Other than that,
he's not a too terrible for
a Yoda figure. Underneath the robe, he reminds me a bit of
the Yoda we glimpse after the Senate battle with Sideous or
Palpatine or Grand PooBaa or whatever he's going by at that point.
I actually like his little jacket shirt thing, with the high
collar it looks very Jedi.
I Also like the head sculpt of this Yoda. Pissed off
fighting Yoda. The little bit of lip curl adds a lot.
Certainly a better than happy smiling vintage Yoda.
Yoda's got some little feet poking out from beneath those
pants. The yellow for the nails on the feet and hands seems
a little garrish to me, but I'm not sure whtat the other options
would be. Also, the one thing I've never seen done
successfully on a Yoda figure, doesn't look much better
here. That being his hair. There's just never been a
great representation of that thinning hair look. However, I
prefer this to the rooted hair version.

The brown robe he comes with has some high points though.
There are holes on each side to allow his robe to poke through on
each side. I have to say that is one of my favorite things
about figure. There is another small opening on the back of
the robe to allow a small holster to peek through for his
lightsaber hilt. I thought that was cool, since he comes
with both lit and unlit sabers. My only issue with the robe
is the seam on the top. It's a bit bulky and covers part of
his face.

Ball jointed shoulders and cut wrists and feet make this one of
the more articulated Yoda's. The ball jointed head would
have been improved with some green paint on the back of the neck.
Kybuck:
I knew the tail on the Kybuck was a seperate piece from the
blister. What I didn't know was one leg was loose as well.
They pop on pretty easily, and seem fairly well attached.

One of my concerns with EU pieces is they're not always as
detailed as the movie items. In this case it's a creature
that appears only in that cartoony Clone Wars style. The
Kybuck here though put my fears to rest. It's got plenty of
little details to make me happy. Add in articulated limbs,
tail and head, and you've got a pretty neat accessory.
The head is ball jointed, but somewhat limited in its'
functionality by the sculpt. He can be a bit tricky to get
to stand on his own. It's a center of gravity thing.
One slick thing that I didn't expect, the Kybuck has foot peg
holes. So if you got an extra stand laying around, you can
probably pose him in more extreme poses. There's a foot peg
on the middle of saddle for Yoda as well as some sort of handle to
hang on to.

I've got a couple dislikes about the Kybuck. They're
fairly small, but notable. One, for Yoda to look so
fierce, the Kybuck looks too peaceful. He looks ready
to go graze in a meadow. Two, Yoda appears to only
ride standing up. I couldn't find a convincing riding
position for him. (Like I said, I haven't seen the CW
Episodes, so maybe he does ride standing.) (See the bottom
picture.)

I hadn't mentioned it, but they come with the a coin as well.
I thought the "Legacy" Era symbol choice for the back was a bit
odd. I would have expected something specific to the Jedi or
Clone Wars.
Overall:
Like I said, I'm not a huge EU Fan.
However, I have to say with all of the accessories for Yoda, as
well as an entire creature, this figure is one heck of a value
compared to a standard figure. For collectors, he's a pretty
cool Clone Wars piece. For kids or fans of Yoda, he's just
plain fun.
Engineernerd Score: 90/100
P.S. Two last minute additions. One
if you leave Yoda's saber handle in his hand, it stretches a bit.
Two. His little brown robe would make a pretty cool little
Jawa corpse.
Discuss in our forums! |